News official: The Orioles made the news official this morning. Juan Samuel is taking over as interim manger and Dave Trembley has been dismissed. Gary Allenson has been named interim third base coach. The club will hold a news conference today at 2:30 p.m. with Andy MacPhail and Juan Samuel. When Andy MacPhail sits in front of a bank of microphones and makes the announcement today - that Dave Trembley is being relieved of his duties as O's manager - I hope MacPhail also says something...

The rumblings are become more intense at this late hour that Dave Trembley has been notified, or will be told early tomorrow morning, that he's been replaced as Orioles manager. I can't get confirmation from the Orioles, but look for an announcement in the morning. It won't drag out much longer, but nothing is going to be made official tonight. Third base coach Juan Samuel is expected to take over on an interim basis, which also has been widely speculated. No word on who would take over...

Since we have so much good news coming our way with the Orioles these days, add this to the latest - shortstop Mychal Givens has been placed on Delmarva's disabled list. The 20-year-old Givens, the O's second-round draft pick out of Plant High in Tampa, Florida, suffered a sprained left thumb sliding into a base vs. Greensboro on Tuesday night. He was wearing a soft cast on the hand yesterday. Givens is expected to be out for at least two weeks, maybe longer. He'll be examined further at...

The Orioles will host their 24th Annual Food Drive at Camden Yards this weekend as the O's take on the Red Sox during a three-game series from June 4-6. The O's, along with fellow sponsors the Orioles Advocates, the Orioles Wives, WJZ-TV, and the Maryland Food Bank will collect non-perishable food items and monetary donations from fans prior to the games this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So don't forget to bring along a donation this weekend and drop it off on your way in. Donations...

Whether you still get a paper on your doorstep every morning or you check websites like this one or baltimoresun.com to get your O's news, you might have come across The Sun's daily Oriole Bird cartoon, a tradition The Sun revived to honor (or lament) each O's game of the season. They usually put a quirky spin on the opponent or outcome, but have you ever wondered how they come up with 162 new, creative cartoons to match the match-ups or highlight the outcomes of O's games all season long?...

The Orioles lost their eighth consecutive game today, but they brought the tying run to the plate with no outs in the ninth inning. Also with one out. And with two outs. If this is manager Dave Trembley's final game, as so many people are speculating, he could point to how his club didn't quit after falling behind, 6-1. It just didn't win. Gary and Mike ask Dave Trembley about the O's 6-3 loss to the Yankees Yankees closer Mariano Rivera walked Nick Markakis (interested) and hit Ty...

The 21-year-old left-hander Josh Smoker did well for Hagerstown on Wednesday, pitching five scoreless innings and allowing only four hits while striking out three and walking three. Smoker induced eight flyouts of the 19 Lakewood batters he faced. The Blue Claws won the game 5-3 over the Suns, but it was a step in the right direction for Smoker. Hagerstown manager Matt LeCroy says Josh has been working toward consistency all season long. "He has had some control issues that has got him...

If you've noticed, a lot of my pre-draft stories have centered around prep pitcher Jameson Taillon. Since everyone is speculating on Monday's first-round at this point, I'll add my two cents. My sense of it is that Taillon is the player the Orioles would like to get. They can get him if the Pirates pass on the 18-year-old right-hander with the second pick. If Taillon is not there, most assume the O's would then pick Miami high school shortstop Manny Machado. I think in that scenario,...

Just as I was preparing an entry on how the Orioles scored four runs in their last four games and 12 over their last eight, Luke Scott made me reach for the delete key by drilling a two-run homer in the seventh inning. Thanks for the re-write. The Orioles had one hit, an Adam Jones home run, and two baserunners through the sixth. Ty Wigginton singled and Scott took CC Sabathia deep to cut the Yankees' lead to 6-3. That qualifies as an offensive uprising. It didn't reach Triple-A Norfolk,...

Did you catch the segment on O's Xtra yesterday that showed Luke Scott fishing with two O's fans, Greg Shute and his son Brennan? The pair of O's fans won the chance to spend a day on the Chesapeake Bay with Scott in the World Fishing Network's "Fish with Luke Scott" contest. "Any day on the water is always a good day," Scott said in the segment. "We caught a couple nice fish and I'm thankful. I enjoyed it." "It was really cool getting to fish with a professional baseball...